ABC’s Saturday Broadcast of Disney’s “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension” Becomes the Network’s Biggest August Movie in 4 Years with Kids 2-11

“Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” Generates Summer Highs for the ABC in its Hour, Registering as the Net’s Top Summer Series Debut on the Night in More than 6 Years

WEEK No. 48:
During the week of August 15, 2011, a week with a number of local-market preemptions on 5 of 7 nights (Wed/Thu/Fri/Sat/Sun), ABC delivered 6 of the Top 20 broadcast programs in Adults 18-49: “Bachelor Pad” – No. 12, “Wipeout-THURS” – No. 13, “Modern Family” – No. 14, “Wipeout-TUES” – No. 18 and “Take the Money and Run” and “Modern Family-WED 8:30PM” tied at No. 20. ABC’s premiere of “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” ranked as the No. 1 newsmagazine for the week with key Adults (AD25-54/AD18-49).

Monday
With the “Bachelor Pad” and a repeat airing of “Castle,” ABC took second place to Fox’s all-original 8:00 – 10:00 p.m. lineup on Monday night in Total Viewers (5.6 million).

• ABC increased its overall Monday audience year to year for the 2nd week in a row, rising 14% over the same night last year with an all-original schedule (4.9 million on 8/16/10).

“Bachelor Pad” (8:00-10:00 p.m.)
For the 2nd consecutive week, ABC’s “Bachelor Pad” won its time period (8:00 – 10:00 p.m.) across all key Women demos (W18-34/W18-49/W25-54).

• “Bachelor Pad” surged over the same night last year by double-digit percentages with Total Viewers (+16% – 6.4 million vs. 5.5 million) and Adults 18-49 (+11% – 2.1/6 vs. 1.9/6). In addition, the show built from its week-ago season opener by 11% in Men 18-34.

• “Castle” hit a summer high among Adults 18-49, posting its top summer number in nearly 1 year – since 8/18/10.

• The repeat ABC drama grew its hour year to year by 8% in Total Viewers, outdrawing original programming in the time period on the same night last year (3.7 million with “Dating in the Dark”).

Tuesday
“Wipeout-Tues” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
At 8:00 p.m., ABC’s repeat “Wipeout” took second to the opening hour of Fox’s “MasterChef” finale with Adults 18-49 and key Men (M18-49/M25-54), and finished as the top-rated broadcast show in the time slot with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 3rd week in a row. The repeat ABC unscripted series dominated its original unscripted time period competition on NBC (“It’s Worth What?”) by 1.3 million Total Viewers (5.5 million vs. 4.2 million) and by 45% in Adults 18-49 (1.6/5 vs. 1.1/4).

• “Wipeout” built nicely from its most recent repeat in the hour in July, growing 12% in viewers and 14% in young adults (4.9 million and 1.4/5 on 7/26/11).

“Take the Money & Run” (9:00-10:00 p.m.)
Against the opening hour of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” and the second hour of Fox’s “MasterChef” finale from 9:00-10:00 p.m., ABC’s “Take the Money & Run” held 100% of “Wipeout’s” Adult 18-34 audience for the 3rd straight week. In addition, for the 2nd week running, the new ABC series increased its retention of “Wipeout” in Men 18-34, building on its lead-in by 18% (vs. +15% the prior week).

“Combat Hospital” (10:00-11:00 p.m.)
At 10 o’clock, against the second hour of NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” ABC’s “Combat Hospital” grew its overall audience by 16% week to week (3.6 million vs. 3.1 million) and was also up 13% in Adults 18-49 (0.9/3 vs. 0.8/2) and 9% in Adults 25-54 (1.2/3 vs. 1.1/3), hitting its highest rating in 6 weeks in the latter Nielsen measure.

Wednesday
With 4 comedy repeats leading into “Primetime Nightline: Beyond Belief,” ABC grew its overall Wednesday audience week to week by 5% (4.3 million vs. 4.1 million) and was up by 8% in Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.2/4) to equal its highest young adult number on the night since mid-June – since 6/15/11. In addition, the Net soared over the same Wednesday last year (3.7 million and 1.1/3 on 8/18/10) for the 3rd straight week in viewers (+16%) and 4th consecutive week in young adults (+18%).

• ABC’s “The Middle” grew over the prior week by 5% in Total Viewers and by 44% in Adults 18-49, generating the show’s largest audience in 11 weeks (since 6/1/11) and matching its best young adult rating in the half-hour this summer.

• “Modern Family” was up over a week ago by 5% in Total Viewers to deliver its 2nd-most-watched watched telecast in the half hour this summer. The comedy also grew week to week by 8% in Adults 18-49, equaling its best young adult number in the time slot in 11 weeks – since 6/1/11.

“Modern Family” (9:00-9:31 p.m.)
For the 3rd week in a row, ABC’s repeat “Modern Family” qualified as Wednesday’s No. 1 scripted program on the broadcast nets in Adults 18-49 (1.7/5-tie). In the 9:00 p.m. half hour, the ABC sitcom finished second in young adults, behind only NBC’s original “America’s Got Talent,” dominating its encore competition on CBS by 21% (“Criminal Minds” = 1.4/4) and on Fox by 183% (“House” = 0.6/2).

• Growing over the prior week by 6% in Adults 18-49 to match its best young adult number in 11 weeks (since 6/1/11), “Modern Family” turned in its 2nd-best performance in the time slot this summer.
• “Modern Family” was up over its year-ago rebroadcast by 1.0 million viewers and by 31% in young adults (3.8 million and 1.3/4 on 8/18/10).

“Wipeout” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Despite airing against the first hour of Fox’s NFL coverage from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s “Wipeout” soared over the prior week by 27% in Total Viewers (6.5 million vs. 5.1 million) and by 36% in Adults 18-49 (1.9/6 vs. 1.4/5). In addition, the ABC series earned second place in the 8 o’clock hour in both viewers and young adults, behind only Fox. The wide-appealing ABC unscripted series stood as Thursday’s highest-rated broadcast show in Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 for the 7th time in 9 weeks.

• “Rookie Blue” continued to improve its time period for ABC year to year, up in Total Viewers (+19%) and Adults 18-49 (+9%) over season premiere programming on the year-ago evening (3.8 million and 1.1/3 with “Nightline Primetime: Secrets of Your Mind” on 8/19/10).

Friday
“Shark Tank” (8:00-9:00 p.m.)
Up against the first hour of Fox’s preseason NFL coverage (Atlanta at Jacksonville) from 8:00-9:00 p.m., ABC’s repeat “Shark Tank” was up over the prior week by 8% in Total Viewers (4.0 million vs. 3.7 million) and by 10% in Adults 18-49 (1.1/4 vs. 1.0/4) to produce its most-watched telecast in 5 weeks – since 7/15/11. In addition, the repeat ABC series more than doubled original episodes of NBC’s “Friends with Benefits” in the 8 o’clock hour in both Total Viewers (+122%) and Adults 18-49 (+120%).

Saturday
ABC’s broadcast of Disney Channel’s latest hit original movie, “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension,” soared 220% over the prior week’s movie in Kids 2-11 (+220% – 1.6/6 vs. 0.5/2 – “Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix”), standing as ABC’s most-watched Saturday Night Movie in 6 months with kids – since 2/19/11. In fact, “Across the 2nd Dimension” marked ABC’s highest-rated August movie with Kids 2-11 in 4 years – since 8/25/07.

• Based on the final ratings (L+7 Day) for its premiere telecast earlier this month on Disney Channel (on Friday, 8/5/11), “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension” emerged as the No. 1 most-watched animated cable telecast of all time in Kids 2-11. In addition, coming in with an average audience of 10.7 million viewers, “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension” stands as cable’s No. 1 entertainment telecast of 2011 to date, and is the No. 5 cable movie of all time, giving Disney Channel 4 of the Top 6 most-watched cable movies ever.

• The Disney XD premiere of “Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Across the 2nd Dimension” (on Saturday, 8/13/11) became Disney’s XD’s No. 1 movie telecast on record in Kids 6-11 and Boys 6-11, ranking as the network’s No. 3 telecast overall in the demos.

Sunday
Up against stiff competition from NBC’s preseason NFL coverage (Dallas-San Diego) from 9:00-11:00 p.m., ABC’s debut of “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” surged over its lead-in (+26% in Total Viewers/+18% in Adults 18-49) to stand as the most-watched non-sports program (5.8 million) in its 2-hour time period. “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” features stories of extraordinary instinct that uncovers the truth.

• In Total Viewers (5.8 million), Adults 25-54 (1.9/5) and Adults 18-49 (1.3/4), “Sunday 20/20: The Sixth Sense” generated summer highs for ABC in the time period with regular programming. In fact, the new show garnered the Net’s biggest summertime audience in the time slot with a series in 5 years, and in 3 years among Adults 25-54 – since 8/27/06 and 7/6/08, respectively.